Updating Known Distribution Models for Forecasting Climate Change Impact on Endangered Species

To plan endangered species conservation and to design adequate management programmes, it is necessary to predict their distributional response to climate change, especially under the current situation of rapid change. However, these predictions are customarily done by relating de novo the distribution of the species with climatic conditions with no regard of previously available knowledge about the factors affecting the species distribution. We propose to take advantage of known species distribution models, but proceeding to update them with the variables yielded by climatic models before projecting them to the future. To exemplify our proposal, the availability of suitable habitat across Spain for the endangered Bonelli''s Eagle (Aquila fasciata) was modelled by updating a pre-existing model based on current climate and topography to a combination of different general circulation models and Special Report on Emissions Scenarios. Our results suggested that the main threat for this endangered species would not be climate change, since all forecasting models show that its distribution will be maintained and increased in mainland Spain for all the XXI century. We remark on the importance of linking conservation biology with distribution modelling by updating existing models, frequently available for endangered species, considering all the known factors conditioning the species'' distribution, instead of building new models that are based on climate change variables only.     

Temperature-Specific Competition between Invasive Mosquitofish and an Endangered Cyprinodontid Fish

Condition-specific competition is widespread in nature. Species inhabiting heterogeneous environments tend to differ in competitive abilities depending on environmental stressors. Interactions between these factors can allow coexistence of competing species, which may be particularly important between invasive and native species. Here, we examine the effects of temperature on competitive interactions between invasive mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki, and an endemic Iberian toothcarp, Aphanius iberus. We compare the tendency to approach heterospecifics and food capture rates between these two species, and examine differences between sexes and species in aggressive interactions, at three different temperatures (19, 24 and 29°C) in three laboratory experiments. Mosquitofish exhibit much more aggression than toothcarp. We show that mosquitofish have the capacity to competitively displace toothcarp through interference competition and this outcome is more likely at higher temperatures. We also show a reversal in the competitive hierarchy through reduced food capture rate by mosquitofish at lower temperatures and suggest that these two types of competition may act synergistically to deprive toothcarp of food at higher temperatures. Males of both species carry out more overtly aggressive acts than females, which is probably related to the marked sexual dimorphism and associated mating systems of these two species. Mosquitofish may thus impact heavily on toothcarp, and competition from mosquitofish, especially in warmer summer months, may lead to changes in abundance of the native species and displacement to non-preferred habitats. Globally increasing temperatures mean that highly invasive, warm-water mosquitofish may be able to colonize environments from which they are currently excluded through reduced physiological tolerance to low temperatures. Research into the effects of temperature on interactions between native and invasive species is thus of fundamental importance.     

A Facile and Specific Assay for Quantifying MicroRNA by an Optimized RT-qPCR Approach

Background

The spatiotemporal expression patterns of microRNAs (miRNAs) are important to the verification of their predicted function. RT-qPCR is the accepted technique for the quantification of miRNA expression; however, stem-loop RT-PCR and poly(T)-adapter assay, the two most frequently used methods, are not very convenient in practice and have poor specificity, respectively.

Results

We have developed an optimal approach that integrates these two methods and allows specific and rapid detection of tiny amounts of sample RNA and reduces costs relative to other techniques. miRNAs of the same sample are polyuridylated and reverse transcribed into cDNAs using a universal poly(A)-stem-loop RT primer and then used as templates for SYBR® Green real-time PCR. The technique has a dynamic range of eight orders of magnitude with a sensitivity of up to 0.2 fM miRNA or as little as 10 pg of total RNA. Virtually no cross-reaction is observed among the closely-related miRNA family members and with miRNAs that have only a single nucleotide difference in this highly specific assay. The spatial constraint of the stem-loop structure of the modified RT primer allowed detection of miRNAs directly from cell lysates without laborious total RNA isolation, and the poly(U) tail made it possible to use multiplex RT reactions of mRNA and miRNAs in the same run.

Conclusions

The cost-effective RT-qPCR of miRNAs with poly(A)-stem-loop RT primer is simple to perform and highly specific, which is especially important for samples that are precious and/or difficult to obtain.     

Fishing for Interpretation: The ITLOS Advisory Opinion on Flag State Responsibility for Illegal Fishing in the EEZ

On 2 April 2015, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) rendered its first full-bench Advisory Opinion. In its reply to the request of the West African Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission the ITLOS found that Arts. 62(4), 58(3), 192 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea contain obligations for a flag state to ensure that vessels flying its flag do not engage in illegal fishing in the exclusive economic zones of coastal states. The Advisory Opinion has widely been praised for bringing clarity to the inadequate international fisheries law regime. This article undertakes to analyze the ITLOS's interpretive approach, expose interpretive deficiencies, and offer possible explanations for some of the outcomes where the ITLOS itself did not do so.     

Fishing Behavior and Decision-Making in an Ecuadorian Community: A Scaled Approach

Debate over how people behave in an open access environment is ongoing in both the social sciences and natural resource management circles. Central to this debate is the question of driving forces behind decisions and behavior toward natural resources within a given area. Using data from an artisanal shrimping community in Ecuador, I demonstrate that behavior in an open access environment, measured in terms of fishing effort, is responsive to both economic and noneconomic factors, the nature of which depends on the temporal scale at which behavior is being measured—hourly, daily, or amount of gear over time. These findings suggest that much of the observed variation between previous studies and corresponding data sets may be a methodological artifact, and the ensuing debates ultimately a result of different methodologies and scales of analyses.     

濒危植物长蕊木兰的核型

报道了长蕊木兰（Alcimandra cathcartii）的染色体核型,核型公式为2n=2x=38=22m＋15sm（3sat）＋1st。核型类型属于Stebbins的2A型。第18条染色体为st染色体,第5、6、7条sm染色体的短臂上各具有1个随体。间期核为简单染色中心型（simple chromocenter type）,有丝分裂前期染色体为中间型（interstitial type）。对前人关于木兰属和含笑属植物的核型研究结果进行了比较分析,长蕊木兰与含笑属亲缘关系较近,但稍有区别,而与木兰属的亲缘关系较远。     

Germ Cell Transplantation Using Sexually Competent Fish: An Approach for Rapid Propagation of Endangered and Valuable Germlines

The transplantation of germ cells into adult recipient gonads is a tool with wide applications in animal breeding and conservation of valuable and/or endangered species; it also provides a means for basic studies involving germ cell (GC) proliferation and differentiation. Here we describe the establishment of a working model for xenogeneic germ cell transplantation (GCT) in sexually competent fish. Spermatogonial cells isolated from juveniles of one species, the pejerrey Odontesthes bonariensis (Atherinopsidae), were surgically transplanted into the gonads of sexually mature Patagonian pejerrey O. hatcheri, which have been partially depleted of endogenous GCs by a combination of Busulfan (40 mg/kg) and high water temperature (25°C) treatments. The observation of the donor cells'' behavior showed that transplanted spermatogonial cells were able to recolonize the recipients'' gonads and resume spermatogenesis within 6 months from the GCT. The presence of donor-derived gametes was confirmed by PCR in 20% of the surrogate O. hatcheri fathers at 6 months and crosses with O. bonariensis mothers produced hybrids and pure O. bonariensis, with donor-derived germline transmission rates of 1.2–13.3%. These findings indicate that transplantation of spermatogonial cells into sexually competent fish can shorten considerably the production time of donor-derived gametes and offspring and could play a vital role in germline conservation and propagation of valued and/or endangered fish species.     

Coupled Downscaled Climate Models and Ecophysiological Metrics Forecast Habitat Compression for an Endangered Estuarine Fish

Climate change is driving rapid changes in environmental conditions and affecting population and species’ persistence across spatial and temporal scales. Integrating climate change assessments into biological resource management, such as conserving endangered species, is a substantial challenge, partly due to a mismatch between global climate forecasts and local or regional conservation planning. Here, we demonstrate how outputs of global climate change models can be downscaled to the watershed scale, and then coupled with ecophysiological metrics to assess climate change effects on organisms of conservation concern. We employed models to estimate future water temperatures (2010–2099) under several climate change scenarios within the large heterogeneous San Francisco Estuary. We then assessed the warming effects on the endangered, endemic Delta Smelt, Hypomesus transpacificus, by integrating localized projected water temperatures with thermal sensitivity metrics (tolerance, spawning and maturation windows, and sublethal stress thresholds) across life stages. Lethal temperatures occurred under several scenarios, but sublethal effects resulting from chronic stressful temperatures were more common across the estuary (median >60 days above threshold for >50% locations by the end of the century). Behavioral avoidance of such stressful temperatures would make a large portion of the potential range of Delta Smelt unavailable during the summer and fall. Since Delta Smelt are not likely to migrate to other estuaries, these changes are likely to result in substantial habitat compression. Additionally, the Delta Smelt maturation window was shortened by 18–85 days, revealing cumulative effects of stressful summer and fall temperatures with early initiation of spring spawning that may negatively impact fitness. Our findings highlight the value of integrating sublethal thresholds, life history, and in situ thermal heterogeneity into global change impact assessments. As downscaled climate models are becoming widely available, we conclude that similar assessments at management-relevant scales will improve the scientific basis for resource management decisions.     

濒危植物中甸刺玫种子休眠及其生态学意义

对中甸刺玫Rosa praelucens种子结构及其透水性,赤霉素处理对胚的影响,果壳、种皮、胚乳的粗提物活性进行研究。结果表明：(1) 中甸刺玫外种皮是由多层排列紧密的厚壁细胞组成,内种皮为坚硬致密的栅栏组织;(2) 种皮对种子的吸胀阻碍较大, 未处理的种子吸水率较低,吸水13 d后增加量为18.82%;(3) 果实结籽率为0.69%,多数果实中没有饱满的种子;(4) 赤霉素100 mg·kg-1预处理种子可加快胚的萌发速率;(5) 胚乳、种皮、果壳中存在内源抑制物。中甸刺玫种子的休眠是由其形态和生理特点引起的综合休眠。     

木莲属濒危植物致濒原因及繁殖生物学研究进展

物种濒危的本质是在自然状况下,种群难以更新和维持。而导致濒危的内在原因就是由于物种的生物学、遗传学因素影响了种群的丰富度。繁殖是种群构建、更新和维持的关键环节,而繁殖成功的标准是能产生成熟个体。从繁殖生物学角度总结木莲属濒危种产生成熟个体的关键环节的研究状况,从其生殖发育异常、交配系统研究、物种自然繁殖特性及个体生存力角度探讨物种致濒的原因。     

十种濒危植物的种群生态学特征及致危因素分析

从保护生态学的观点出发,对10个濒危植物的地理分布、生境条件、种群数量动态、空间分布格局、种间关系、种群的生命表、生殖力表、有性生殖、无性繁殖等种群生态学特征进行了综合分析。论述了濒危植物以光合、蒸腾、呼吸为主的生理生态学规律;预测种群数量动态的Leslie矩阵、刻画种群空间分布格局的模型、刻画种群生长和数量增长的Logistic方程和多元回归模型所反映出的生态学特征。分析了濒危植物种群动态、发展趋势以及在内外因素作用下的生态学特征和过程。针对濒危植物保护研究存在的问题,从生态学角度对我国未来濒危植物保护研究应注意的问题提出了建议。     

物种濒危的机制与保护对策

本文以生物多样性和保护生物学的若干基础理论为依据,分析了物种濒危的现状,论述了濒危物种的概念和特征、易于濒危和灭绝的类型,阐明了物种濒危的机制,并由此提出了濒危物种种质资源的保护对策。     

三种兰科植物的保护遗传学研究初探

采用随机扩增多态 DNA(RAPD)分析研究了中国3种珍稀濒危兰科植物硬叶兜兰(Paphiopedilum micranthum Tang et Wang)、麻栗坡兜兰(P. malipoense S.C.Chen et Tsi)和独花兰(Changnienia amoena Chien)的遗传多样性与群体遗传结构.12个RAPD引物在2种兜兰中共扩增出131条带.对4个硬叶兜兰群体的检测表明其物种水平的多态条带百分率(PPB)为 71.6%,Nei 的基因多样度(h)为 0.217 1,Shannon多样性指数 (I) 为 0.330 1;4个群体的平均多样性水平为 PPB = 45.2%,h = 0.145 7,I = 0.220 4,低于远交兰花的平均水平.在总遗传变异中,群体间遗传变异占20.31%,略高于远交物种的平均水平.在物种水平上,麻栗坡兜兰的PPB为49.5%,h为0.117 4,I为0.176 4,均大大低于硬叶兜兰.对11个独花兰群体采用16个RAPD引物共扩增出119条带.物种水平PPB=76.5%,h=0.194 1,I=0.305 8;在群体水平上,上述3个指标的平均值则分别为37.2%、0.119 7和0.181 0,均低于远交兰花的平均水平.群体间的遗传变异占45.27%,遗传分化明显高于远交物种的平均水平.导致3个物种遗传多样性偏低而群体间遗传分化较高的主要原因在于人为的过度采挖和生境的片断化.研究结果为兰花保护策略和措施的制定提供了理论基础.     

Genetic Diversity and Genetic Structure of an Endangered Species, Trillium tschonoskii

The genetic diversity and genetic structure of Trillium tschonoskii (Maxim) were investigated using amplified fragment length polymorphism markers. Eight primer combinations were carried out on 105 different individuals sampled from seven populations. Of the 619 discernible DNA fragments generated, 169 (27.3%) were polymorphic. The percentage of polymorphic bands within populations ranged from 4.52 to 10.50. Genetic diversity (H_E) within populations ranged from 0.0130 to 0.0379, averaging 0.0536 at the species level. Genetic differentiation among populations was detected based on Nei's genetic diversity analysis (53.03%) and analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) (52.43%). AMOVA indicated significant genetic differentiation among populations (52.43% of the variance) and within populations (47.57% of the variance) (p < 0.0002). Gene flow was low (0.4429) among populations. Species breeding system and limited gene flow among populations are plausible reasons for the high genetic differentiation observed for this species. We propose an appropriate strategy for conserving the genetic resources of T. tschonoskii in China.     

鱼类品种培育新技术

鱼类新品种的培育对水产养殖业的发展起着极其重要的作用。本文对可应用于鱼类新品种培育的新技术———基因转移、染色体片段转移、嵌合体制作技术、克隆、细胞融合以及航天育种技术做了简要概述,以期通过这些技术的综合应用能够创造出优质、高产、抗逆的鱼类新品种。     

Impact of Zoo Visitors on the Fecal Cortisol Levels and Behavior of an Endangered Species: Indian Blackbuck (Antelope cervicapra L.)

This study investigated behavioral activities (resting, moving, aggressive, social, and reproductive behavior) and fecal cortisol levels in 8 individually identified adult male blackbucks during periods of varying levels of zoo visitors (zero, low, high, and extremely high zoo visitor density). This study also elucidated whether zoo visitor density could disturb nonhuman animal welfare. This study analyzed fecal cortisol from the samples of blackbuck by radioimmunoassay and found significant differences (p < .05) for time the animals devoted to moving, resting, aggressive, reproductive, and social behavior on days with high and extremely high levels of zoo visitors. The ANOVA with Duncan's Multiple Range Test test showed that the fecal cortisol concentration was higher (p < .05) during the extremely high (137.30 ± 5.88 ng/g dry feces) and high (113.51 ± 3.70 ng/g dry feces) levels of zoo visitor density. The results of the study suggest that zoo visitor density affected behavior and adrenocortical secretion in Indian Blackbuck, and this may indicate an animal welfare problem.